The Puzzle (HHWC)

The scraping sound was irritating my ears. In my mind's eye, I couldn't imagine what was creating that persistent, galling sound. The
SSSSHHHHRRRAAAAPPPSSSSHHHHH over and over with the occasional abrupt wet slap. I could not place it.

A very long time after I first noticed the scraping, it dawned on me, "Where am I?" This was voiced in my head. I also realized, I didn't feel
anything. Not good. Not bad. Nothing. I thought, "I am hearing the sounds, but I don't feel anything. Wait, not only do I not FEEL anything, I
don't see anything either." I had not realized I was in total darkness. Or so I thought.

Time passed, but I had no idea how long. Casually I noticed that my left eye had started twitching. Infrequently, but increasing slowly the movement
continued. Also at this time, a faint glimmer of light became visible through my eyelids. I could almost make out the pattern of veins. "Progress",
I thought. Progress? From what to what? I couldn't remember. I needed to remember, but I just couldn't. Putting the thought aside for the moment,
I seemed to have plenty to spare, I concentrated on the scraping sound again. It was the dominant feature of my returning senses. Over and over it
came, "SSSSHHHHRRRAAAAPPPSSSSHHHHH", "SLAP". Puzzling.

The next thing to return was a gradual feeling of coldness. Not a bit of a chill. No, an absolute coldness. It was so profound, it ached. As soon
as I felt it, I wished it hadn't returned. The dull ache began to throb. The throb began to pound. The pounding resonated from my feet, which must
still be there, to my scalp. "OOOOOHHHHHH" I thought, but no sound emerged. "What is going on?"

The scraping sound abruptly stopped. I then could hear the faint beating of my own heart. And a shuffling across what I assumed was the room I was
in. A shuffling, a screech of metal and the plop of a heavy sounding burden being dropped or tossed. It resonated with a kersplat and a muffled pop.
The shuffling resumed briefly. A grunt briefly complimented the shuffling, then, momentarily, the scraping began anew.

For the first time, I heard conversation. I think it was conversation. It was no language I had ever heard. Kind of a raspy whine, with an
intermingled click. There was no way I could understand any of what was said. Two voices, one low and slow, one high and more quickly spoken. I
tried to open my eyes, I needed to see those who spoke. I tried in vain. My eyelids just wouldn't lift. This was the first time I felt fear. Not
being able to see when I realized I wanted to, triggered the knowledge that I was not in control of my situation.

I then began a fevered effort to move, anything. I thought movement to every part of my body. Nothing. The only movement was the slow rise and fall
of my chest with each breath. This made no sense. I was perfectly fine... Wait. When had I been perfectly fine. How long did I remember being
here? I had no idea. As I thought this, my heart started pumping the adrenaline that was finally triggered. Ah, then I had my first true movement,
I began to shake.

I also began to moan. My teeth began to chatter. I felt my cold fingers grasp into claws. I felt a single tear, warmer than my skin roll from the
corner of my eye. FEAR! The only emotion I could draw. I had to open my eyes. I couldn't stand it. I had to know what those sounds represented,
who was speaking. I had to KNOW what was that... SMELL. I now could smell. OH, crap. It was worse than the cold. I knew what that smell was. I
KNEW. Everything faded.

How long my faint lasted, I had no way to know. What it did do, however, was give my body time to further recover. When I awoke, I felt everything I
had before, heard it all again, smelled it clearly. And my eyes opened. My brain could not register what I viewed. I recognized the things in my
line of sight. But I couldn't categorize it. It didn't make sense.

I wasn't moving or moaning any longer. My teeth were still chattering. I panned my eyes slowly around my area. What I could see, though limited,
was more than enough to realize I was in deep deep trouble.

To the left, starting less than ten feet away was a pile of people. Male, female, naked. They were mostly average build. That was not my pile.
Upon reflection, and another quick look, my mind began to make assumptions. Mine was not an average build, I was more amply endowed in target areas,
chest, hips, etc. I tried to look more closely around myself. I, too, was part of a pile. I was on the top side of a slightly bigger mound than the
one across from me. Also naked. I felt my cheeks flush. EMBARRASSMENT? I am facing horror and I am embarrassed!

I looked across at the other pile again, trying to figure it out. As I did, I saw a pair of bugging blue eyes staring back at me. The mouth opened
as if to scream but no sound. I then realized there was no awareness in them either. I was about to loose my cool when someone else did first. On
the other side of that pile a man screamed. This did two things, first it made me jump which caused a shift in weight distribution, I slid to the
bottom edge of the pile. Second, it got the attention of the momentarily forgotten other occupants in the room.

The shuffling sounds I had heard earlier, had been casual, slow. These movements were much quicker and targeted directly toward the screaming man,
who was by now making his way off of his pile. Two, creatures, emerged into my view. The were big. They were a mottled greenish gray. They weren't
just big. They were massive. They towered over the pile of people. One of them reached out with its arm, on the end of its arm was a hand of sorts
with a claw on one appendage. It poked the man like you would poke a piece of chicken to see how tender in was. The man simply stopped, everything.
No more screaming. No more struggling. The expression frozen on his face.

Click. A piece of the puzzle fell in place. They looked sort of like a mutant man frog. Sort of. Some frogs were poisonous. Something quelled
that man in an instant. Survival dictated I avoid that claw. All this in a second's thought. I froze. Just in time. The two frog's, for want of a
better term, were looking over the piles, looking, I was sure for more awakened ones. They touched a couple of other people, then turned and went
back the way they had come.

When they were out of sight, I decided to learn more about my situation. A quick look at the others in my pile, quickly confirmed that we were all,
more or less, more amply endowed than the pile to my left. I would say we were in the next weight class up if we were boxers. But I was not a boxer,
I was a, uh, an accountant. The thought didn't come easily. That poison must really pack a wallop.

The sounds had resumed. The smell was just as strong. I didn't want to think about the smell yet. I needed to learn more about where I was. I was
working past the fear. The terror that was underlying my thoughts, I kept at bay just enough to use as impetus.

How was I so calm? I didn't have time to consider this. I began edging around so I could see the area more clearly. Just a foot or so away from the
edge of my pile, gave me more than an ample view. There was a third pile.

It was much bigger than either of the first two. It was bigger in two ways. First is was at least twice as large. More people. Secondly each of
those people were obese. If they wore clothes, they would be the poster children for our societies abuse of fast food and toxic substances. They,
like us, were naked. We were all in the same boat. Or were we. Why the different piles? The answer came all too soon.

One of the Frogmen approached the larger pile. It grasped a person in each hand and started back to where it came from. I crawled slowly in that
direction. I had to see what was happening. I rounded the end of the pile. I had a clear view of a massive table type area. It was drenched in
blood. As were two other Frogmen working at the table. The one with the people, laid them down between the two bloodied workers. He moved to the
side. The two began nonchalantly gutting them. I felt no shock. It was as if I knew I would see this. Did I know I would see this? Had I seen it
before? The smell I recognized, the blood and feces. Had I seen this before now? I sat flat on my butt on the floor. Puzzled. Why was I not
screaming? I looked at my hands. Nothing unusual. Looked at my feet and legs. Then I saw on my right leg, two puncture marks. Two. On my left
leg three. Large and discolored but not bloody. I had already been clawed. At least five times.

Then, suddenly, I knew what was going to happen to the bodies on the table. After evisceration, they pealed the skin and fat away from the muscle.
They were very attentive to gathering every ounce of fat from the tissues. The skeletal remains with the attached muscular tissue were tossed aside
for later processing. The main interest was the fat. In fact, the shorter fatter Frogman, from time to time, would stuff bits into his mouth as he
worked. Then I knew the sounds would begin again, as they used the metal tools to scrape the fat from the skin to which it clung.

"SSSSHHHHRRRAAAAPPPSSSSHHHHH", "SLAP". The slap was the fatty tissue being thrown into vats. They were harvesting the fat first. Evidently the
thing of most interest to them. We were their food. Their harvest. I felt numb. I just sat their watching. Thinking. Withdrawing.

'THERE IT IS AGAIN. THE SAME ONE. I AM TIRED OF RETRIEVING IT. CAN'T WE JUST GO AHEAD AND PROCESS IT?'

'I TOLD YOU WE MUST PROCESS THE PRIME DELICACIES FIRST. THE LEADERS DO NOT WANT SUB PAR FOOD. IT ISN'T RUNNING LIKE LAST TIME. IGNORE IT.'

You had me interested from start to finish because we, the readers, became aware of what was happening at the same pace as the main character/victim,
from the first flicker of sight to the deep pile carpeting and then on to the fatvats.

SHAMELESS BUMP. Due to the fact that my thread is quickly going by the wayside, I am writing this post to try and get more readers. Hey
guys if you get this far in the thread, read the other stories too. There are some really good entries in this contest (including mine, OF COURSE!).

No need to *bump* I am sure like myself many people are just waiting for the right time to sit down and devour the stories in the contest, yep I said
devour...

Now, I have to say that yours so far is the scariest thing I have read in a long time. When I make my private choices for these contests it is always
the ones that I remember a week later that I choose as the winners, yours will be with me for a very very long time.

Why, thank you, Flatwoods, for reading my little story. It is just my contribution to the horrific domain of short stories. When I reread the story,
even my stomach twinges when the frogman has his snack!

Thanks for the comment, Tribble. I can honestly say, I didn't know I had a story this dark in me. You just never know where you can go when you
really let go. By the way, I've lost almost ten pounds since I wrote this.

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